estuaries and estuarine zones, directly and indi- 

 rectly. 



Most water-use programs and projects affecting 

 estuarine habitat are planned and implemented by 

 the Corps of Engineers, and to a lesser extent by 

 the Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of 

 the Interior and The Soil Conservation Service of 

 the Department of Agriculture. Included also are 

 non-Federal activities subject to Federal Power 

 Commission Mcense and non-Federal activities sub- 

 ject to Corps of Engineers permit. 



VI. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT 



The Bureau of Land Management administers 

 the resources of the seabed and subsoil of the 

 Outer Continental Shelf' ' by authority of the 

 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.' ^ 



Exploration, leasing, and development of the 

 submerged lands of the outer continental shelves 

 were authorized Aug. 7, 1953. Since the first lease 

 sale in 1954, over 1,300 mineral leases have been 

 granted, with a bonus bid income of over $2.5 

 bilUon.*^ Royalty income from oil, gas, sulfur, 

 and salt leases has totaled over $700 million from 

 mineral production of $4 bilhon. Current royalty 

 income exceeds $14 miUion per month. 



VIL BUREAU OF MINES 



The objective of the Bureau of Mines is to 

 foster the growth of a U.S. industry-owned marine 

 mining industry, and, in support of that goal, work 

 with industry to: 



"The definition and description of the Continental 

 Shelf is found in the Convention on the Continental Shelf 

 (1964), 15 U.S.T. 471, approved by 57 nations, including 

 the United States, on April 26, 1958. The Convention 

 entered into force June 10, 1964. The legal definition of 

 the shelf is an area of major interest and the discussion of 

 this definition and its important legal and international 

 implications are presented in Chapter 1, Section 111. 



'^P.L. 83-212, Aug. 7, 1953, 67 Stat. 462, 43 U.S.C. 

 1331-1343. This Act is discussed further in Chapters 8 

 and 9. For a more extended treatment, see Christopher, 

 Key to a New Frontier, 6 Stanford Law Review 23, 28-31 

 (1953). 



'^Includes over $600 million realized in the lease sale 

 of the Santa Barbara Channel lands, February 1968. 



—Develop data, tools, and techniques necessary to 

 characterize marine mineral deposits and their 

 environments 



—Define mining systems requirements 



—Advance the technology for industrial develop- 

 ment of complete mining systems 



—Contribute the technologic basis for resolution 

 of environmental, including pollution, and legal 

 aspects of marine mining 



—Study the feasibility of recovery of additional 

 minerals from seawater and of energy from the 

 sea. 



Emphasis is being placed initially on delinea- 

 tion, but will gradually shift to research and 

 development apphcable to mining systems. The 

 sequence required to bring a marine mineral 

 deposit into production is the same as on land, but 

 mining technology involved is vastly different. 



The Bureau operates a Marine Minerals Tech- 

 nology Center at Tiberon, CaUfornia, and its 

 research vessel Virginia City has conducted ex- 

 ploration in Norton Sound, Alaska, and off 

 Oregon and California. 



Current funding of the Bureau for coastal 

 projects is: 



fY68 $1,400,000 

 FY 69 $1,500,000 



VIII. OFFICE OF SALINE WATER (OSW) 



Since 1952, the Department of the Interior 

 through the Office of Saline Water, has conducted 

 a research and development program to obtain 

 low-cost means for saline water conversion.'* 

 Primary objective of the program is to provide 

 development of practicable low-cost means for 

 large-scale production of water of a quality suit- 

 able for municipal, industrial, agricultural, and 

 other uses from saline water, and for studies and 

 research related thereto. The term "saline water" 

 includes seawater, brackish water, and other 

 mineralized or chemically charged water. 



"*The Office of Sahne Water was established pursuant 

 to Act of Congress July 3, 1952, 66 Stat. 328. 



III-88 



